The Sunday Business Post-Red C (4th March) and Sunday Times-Behaviour & Attitudes (26th February) polls both point to a significant gain in Sinn Fein support relative to that party’s support levels in the previous such poll, with the party having achieved record high levels in the history of both polls.
From Jane Suiter A group of us including Professor Michael Marsh, Dr Theresa Reidy and I along with Red C were commissioned to undertake research following the referendums in November with a view to learning lessons for future referendum campaigns. The report is here and the presentation given to the Oireachtas Committee on Investigations, Oversight…
The civic group, Second Republic, who have been involved in campaigning for a Citizens’ Assembly for Political Reform, will hold their second AGM in Dublin on Saturday week.Time: 10:00-13:00 and 14:00-16:30 Date: Saturday, 3 March Venue: Odessa Club, 14 Dame Court, Dublin 2. The AGM will happen very shortly after the Government will have announced…
It is great to see that the Government is making good on its word to establish a Constitutional Convention, see report here. There are many parts of the 1937 Constitution which should be looked at from a political reform perspective. Some of these including reducing the voting age, allowing gay marriage and abolishing the Seanad…
By Eoin O’Malley (15 February, 2012) SIPO last night released details for candidate election expenses – set out here. They provide useful information as to what candidates spent their money on in the campaign and how much each spent. They are less useful, however, for disclosing where each candidate’s money came from. We can see, for instance,…
Posted by David Farrell (February 6, 2012) Reports are circulating that the government is about to take steps to deal with Ireland’s terrible shortcomings on Freedom of Information and Whistleblowers legislation (to be blogged about when more is known). Both measures were promised in the Programme for Government and they are important steps on the…
By Michael Gallagher ‘Independent TDs devise plan to force referendum’ reads the headline on the Irish Times site on 1 February. The cunning plan, it turns out, is that they would aim to use the provisions of Article 27 of the constitution to bring about a referendum on the recently-agreed EU treaty (or quasi-EU treaty)…
The Sunday Business Post-Red C poll (29th January 2012) shows a further dip in support (albeit not a dramatic one) for the government parties, with Sinn Fein’s continued run of good showings in recent polls culminating in the party earning its higghest ever rating in a Red C poll, leaving it at 17%, ahead of Labour and just…
Posted by David Farrell (January 24, 2012) In an interesting piece in today’s Irish Times (see here), Peadar Kirby and Mary P. Murphy make a persuasive case for involving ordinary citizens in the constitutional convention that the government is anticipated to establish in the very near future. While they take issue with the approach proposed…
Posted by David Farrell (January 20, 2012) In a spirited opinion piece in today’s Irish Times, Daniel Sullivan takes issue with gender quotas (see here), describing the idea variously as wrong, unworkable and even ‘boneheaded’. He appears to have three main problems with the proposal.
Irish Politics Forum 